


Just a Lie

by Poekiepoes



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ashfur being Ashfur, Canon-Typical Violence, Death Threats, F/M, Family Drama, Ferncloud yells at her mean brother, Fire, Hollyleaf being stubborn, Lies, Revenge, Squirrelflight being a mom, Threats of Violence, long shadows au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-24
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:48:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22885822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poekiepoes/pseuds/Poekiepoes
Summary: Squirrelflight lied to them. Just in a different way they first thought.Takes place during Long Shadows and Sunrise
Relationships: Ashfur/Squirrelflight (past), Brambleclaw/Squirrelflight (Warriors), Dustpelt/Ferncloud (Warriors), Ferncloud&Ashfur, Hollyleaf & Jayfeather & Lionblaze (Warriors)
Comments: 16
Kudos: 55





	1. Ice and Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Here I am again! This is going to be a multichapter story, so I hope you guys like it! It's an AU of Long Shadows, of, you know, thát scene. I don't know how many chapters this is going to have, so we'll see how far it goes. Please mind that English is not my native language, grammar errors are welcome to be reported.
> 
> I don't know if anyone wrote anything like this, so if you did, sorry, I didn't know, just mind that I did not and will not steal any ideas.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Erin Hunter owns Warriors and its characters.  
> A lot of dialogue is from the book, but I only own the Dutch version, I translated it back to English, so it's probably not the same as the original version.

“Your kits. If you watched them die, then you'll know how I felt.”

Ashfur’s words sounded icecold, opposing the heat of the fire that surrounded Hollyleaf and her brothers, joined by their mother Squirrelflight and their path to freedom blocked by the gray speckled tom. Squirrelflight had chosen her current mate Brambleclaw over Ashfur, which made him hate her and want revenge above all things, he had waited for his opportunity for what was probably years, he wanted to hurt Squirrelflight as bad as she hurt him. He trapped her and her three kits in the flames that were the forest fire created by accident in a lightning storm.  
Ashfur planned on killing them. Hollyleaf started to silently panic, how were they going to get out of this alive? What about their mother? Was Ashfur really this driven to hurt her? She took a glance to her side, watching her two brothers with the same frightened expression on their faces. She then looked at her mother, she didn’t look scared, like she was the one in control of the situation, like she had a plan to get past Ashfur.

“Kill them then,” Squirrelflight said straight to his face,”You won’t hurt me that way. If you really want to hurt me, you'll have to find a better way than that.” Hollyleaf and her brothers stared at her, not believing what they just heard, was that Squirrelflight’s plan, to just let them die? Did she even care? A million questions flashed through Hollyleaf’s mind, her train of thoughts broken and most of the questions answered by her mother’s next words to the blue-eyed tom.  
“They're not my kits.”

Hollyleaf’s mouth fell open, she didn’t even have to look at Lionblaze and Jayfeather to know what they thought, they all thought the same. New questions entered her mind, wanting to scream them all out, but she found herself and her tongue frozen by shock. Ashfur looked just as surprised, but then his expression turned to disbelief,  
“You're lying,” he said to Squirrelflight, who continued the conversation like nothing happened,  
“No, I'm not lying, “ she came with arguments, good arguments, “Did you see me giving birth to them? Did I nurse them? Did I stay in the nursery until they became apprentices? No.” Hollyleaf couldn’t believe her ears. Ashfur stuttered something Hollyleaf couldn’t understand, and Squirrelflight added even more to the heap of emotion that was already the conversation they were having, it became quite one-sided,  
“I fooled you all, even Brambleclaw,” wait.. Brambleclaw didn’t know? Ashfur started questioning her, “And no one in the Clan knows?” “No, they are all as blind for the truth as you are.” Ashfur’s confusion turned into determination, and his mouth into a grin, it sent shivers down Hollyleaf’s spine. He spoke, “What do you think will happen if I tell them? Will your Clanmates still want you in ThunderClan if they knew you had been lying to them, and Firestar, and your sister, and Brambleclaw?” Squirrelflight became less determined when she answered, “Are you going to tell them?” Hollyleaf spotted a spark of fear in Squirrelflight’s eyes. 

“Of course! I can still take away the thing you love the most. Brambleclaw won’t want anything to do with you anymore. How could you be this foolish to think that I would keep your secret? But you've always been a fool, Squirrelflight. I will let these cats, whoever they may be, live. But your path of suffering has only just begun.” 

Ashfur disappeared in the bushes that weren’t on fire yet, and Squirrelflight turned around to face the three siblings that were still standing in the same spot. Hollyleaf just stared at het, she knew they had to get out of here first, before they burned to death anyway.  
Getting out of the fire was relatively easy after Ashfur unblocked their path. They escaped without much trouble, Lionblaze guiding Jayfeather over a safe path. Once they were safe, Hollyleaf’s fear of the fire was replaced by the fear of the news Squirrelflight had just declared without a care in the world. Her voice trembled. Jayfeather was the first to say something to their so called mother.

“It’s not true, is it? You are our mother, right?” Squirrelflight looked at him with sympathy in her eyes, even though the blind tom could not see it. She was about to answer him when Hollyleaf, filled with rage, exclaimed, “Why didn’t you tell us?! Didn’t you think that we deserved to know?! You are a liar, Squirrelflight, a liar!” Hollyleaf was not done yet, Squirrelflight tried to interrupt her,  
“Hollyleaf, please-"  
“No! I don’t want to hear anymore of your excuses! You lied to us! You lied to everyone! Brambleclaw doesn’t even know! You lied to your partner! To your own family! Your real family…” the last part was barely audible, muted by Hollyleaf’s pain. Squirrelflight’s eyes filled with sadness, trying to speak without being interrupted,  
“Hollyleaf, please,et me explain!” Hollylead cut her off again, “No! I don’t want anymore lies!” At this point, Lionblaze and Jayfeather tried to calm down their sister, but she wasn’t having any of it.

“Hollyleaf, I am trying to tell you the truth, please listen.”

“No! Stop it! Just stop!”

“Let me-"

“Did you ever love us? Or was it all a lie too?”

Hollyleaf’s eyes filled themselves with tears, they streamed down her cheeks, Squirrelflight’s mouth fell open slightly.

“Oh, sweetheart, I have always loved you, all of you. It was all a lie, I never lied to any of you before…

It was just a lie.”


	2. Out of the Ashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the forest fire, Squirrelflight explains herself and Ashfur is still plotting his revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy this new, far too late chapter!

Lionblaze just stood and looked. His siblings stood with him. Hollyleaf, who was enraged just moments ago, didn’t say anything. What could she say anyway? Squirrelflight was the first one to talk, explaining like she said she would, “It was a trick. Ashfur was going to kill you, I couldn't… I couldn’t let that happen to you. I hope you can forgive me.” The three siblings didn’t know what to do at first but then Lionblaze stepped foreward to put his head in his mother’s neck to hug her, Squirrelflight hugged him back, Jayfeather and Hollyleaf eventually joined them.  
“Thank you.” Squirrelflight said to them. Jayfeather suddenly raised his head in realization and spoke, “But what about Ashfur? He thinks it’s the truth! He’s going to tell everyone!” Squirrelflight stayed calm and reassured him, “That is a problem for later, sweetheart, what matters now is that you are all safe and well.” She hugged her kits again.

They caught up with the rest of the Clan quickly and Squirrelflight let her father know they were okay. No one seemed to be injured badly, everyone would live. Out of the corner of his eye, Lionblaze saw Ashfur stare at them from beside his sister, Ferncloud. So that bastard made it out alive as well. It might have been bad, but a part of Lionblaze wished that the gray speckled tom had burned to death. They would fix this, and nobody had to get hurt. Lionblaze would make sure of it.   
Brambleclaw came running towards them, hugging his mate and kits, “I'm so glad you are okay, for a moment I thought I had lost you.” Squirrelflight touched his nose with hers, “You're not getting rid of me that easily, Brambleclaw.” 

Several quarter-moons later, ThunderClan was able to move back into their camp. Lionblaze was surprised at the time Ashfur took to spread the rumor, he was sure the gray tom was planning something big, neither of the four knew what it could be, but they held their eyes and ears open and were prepared to stop whatever Ashfur would do. Squirrelflight decided not to involve Brambleclaw in it, what would she tell him anyway? “Hey, your children almost burned to death because my ex is out for revenge and to save them I said that they were adopted and now my ex is going to tell everyone and probably get me cast out of ThunderClan if I don’t keep him quiet, but he'll probably kill us anyway if he found out the truth?” Well, that wasn’t going to work. The less cats knew, the less Ashfur knew. They couldn’t risk him finding out. Involving Firestar wouldn’t work either, Ashfur was a supposed loyal warrior, and he wouldn’t believe them. They were on their own.

The Gathering would be that midnight, so Firestar called the cats that he would take with him, including Squirrelflight, Lionblaze, Hollyleaf, Jayfeather, Brambleclaw, of course, being ThunderClan’s deputy, and Ashfur. Lionblaze was sure this was what Ashfur planned. He wasn’t going to tell just ThunderClan, but the whole forest! They had limited time, Lionblaze gathered them all together to discuss. “Ashfur is going to make his move on the Gathering tonight!” Jayfeather yelled-whispered to them, “Exactly my thoughts,” Lionblaze answered, 

“What are we going to do? There is no time!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think, guys! Any suggestions for this story,? I already know what I'm going to do to Ashfur, but ideas are always welcome! Hope you enjoyed!  
> ~Poekiepoes


	3. The Gathering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Gathering has arrived, Squirrelflight and her kits already know what is going to happen and try to convince Ashfur to stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the third chapter! I hope you enjoy and have a great day!

“Can’t you talk him out of this?” Jayfeather asked Squirrelflight, “You're the only one he might listen to.” Lionblaze backed him up, “He’s right, it’s better to prevent than fix it.” Squirrelflight sighed, “He wouldn’t listen… you heard him during the fire, he’s not giving up his chance of revenge.” “But you can try.” “Alright, I'll try to talk some sense into him.” Squirrelflight walked over to Ashfur, keeping her head down and walking slowly to not attract attention, the three siblings watched them from a few fox-lengths distance, not being able to hear their conversation, Squirrelflight spoke softly: “Ashfur, please don’t do this..” Ashfur looked at her like she just turned into an actual squirrel, “Do you honesty think-" “No, but I'm still trying,” Squirrelflight interrupted him, already knowing what he was going to say and continued her plea, “If not for us, then for ThunderClan. This secret coming out could destroy the Clan.” Squirrelflight was sure, that if they had been alone, Ashfur would have scoffed, instead, he rolled his eyes and looked away from Squirrelflight’s forest green gaze, “I won't let anything or anyone stop me. You are wasting your time Squirrelflight.” He said the last few words extra slowly and spoke her name as if it was poison. Squirrelflight looked determined,   
“I was lying.” Ashfur looked up at her again, his eyes screamed confusion but the rest of his face was emotionless as Squirrelflight continued, “They are my kits, I lied to save them.” This time Ashfur did silently scoff, obviously not believing her, “You're just saying that. I won’t believe anymore of your lies. This ends tonight, Squirrelflight, just wait and see.” Ashfur started to walk faster to avoid Squirrelflight, said ginger she-cat didn’t even try to follow him. What else could she say? Her mother once taught her that telling the truth is always the best thing to do, Sandstorm had told her that when Squirrelflight as a kit had sneaked out of the nursery (her sister Leafpool begged her not to) at night and lied about it. But what if the person she was telling the truth to didn’t believe her? 

Squirrelflight joined her kits again, sighing, “I tried, I even told him the truth, but he wouldn't believe me..” The three looked at her, not knowing what to say, “I can’t stop him.” Jayfeather came closer to her in a comforting manner, “We will fix this, mom, we will fix this together, we always do.” Squirrelflight smiled at her son, and even though he could not see it, he knew his words had helped her at least a little. “Thank you, Jayfeather.”

They arrived at the Island at last, the other Clans already being there, ThunderClan was last. “At last, Firestar. Does ThunderClan always have to make a dramatic entrance?” ShadowClan’s leader Blackstar said to the ginger tom, who Firestar answered to with a friendly nod and a greeting, “Good to see you too, Blackstar.” He joined the other three Clanleaders after greeting Leopardstar and Onestar. Squirrelflight scanned the clearing for a sign of the gray speckled tom she once called her friend, and found him sitting next to Thornclaw, his gaze was fixed on the four leaders, discussing borders, prey and all that standard Gathering small talk stuff. Squirrelflight was sure Ashfur didn’t care even a little about the prey in WindClan’s territory. Who apart from WindClan would anyway? This was the silence before the storm, Squirrelflight realized.

Jayfeather sat with his siblings and parents, he sensed the same tension in them that he felt. He wasn’t listening to the four leaders debating over some border or something. He couldn’t locate Ashfur, probably because the speckled tom was sitting somewhere else or had his scent disguised under other cats'. He turned to his family and whispered, “Where is Ashfur?” Brambleclaw answered, surprised because the question was so random, “Next to Thornclaw, a couple of fox-lengths to the right, why do you want to know?” Jayfeather had completely forgotten his father was there too and spoke softly, “No reason, I just need to talk to him.” Brambleclaw shaked it off, focussing on Leopardstar again, who was still talking about RiverClan’s prey. Jayfeather walked to the right until he caught Ashfur’s scent, he could practically feel his family’s gaze on his back when he sat down next to the speckled tom. “Please don’t do it, Ashfur. Squirrelflight was telling the truth.” Ashfur scoffed, “I didn’t believe her and I won’t believe you either, the only way you can stop me is to kill me.” Jayfeather could hear the amusement in Ashfur’s voice as he continued, “But it’s a little late for that now, isn’t it? I am going to ruin Squirrelflight’s life like she ruined mine.” Jayfeather swallowed his fear, “What about us? This will ruin me and my sibling’s life! Don’t you care?” Jayfeather already knew the answer.  
“No.” 

Jayfeather joined his family again, sighing. “Still no luck?” Hollyleaf asked. “He’s too far in to see the truth. He still thinks you were lying,” he said to Squirrelflight. Hollyleaf digged her claws into the dirt in frustration, but still speaking softly, “We should have done something! It’s too late now! We could have, we had more than one opportunity, why didn’t we do anything?” Regret was filling all of them, they knew Hollyleaf was right. 

The Gathering was almost over, Ashfur hadn’t done anything yet, but they knew he would, it was now or the next gathering, but Ashfur probably didn’t have the patience to wait for that. Their suspicions were confirmed when Ashfur stood up, at this point they were panicking. “Firestar, may I say something?” Firestar looked at him, surprised when he answered, “Common Warriors are not supposed to speak during the Gathering, Ashfur, and you know that.” Ashfur smiled, “I know, Firestar, I will make it short, this is important. Please?” He looked at Firestar, waiting for his answer. Firestar looked at the other leaders, they nodded in approval. Ashfur looked at Squirrelflight in satisfaction, madness in his ice-blue stare. Squirrelflight answered his look with a pleading stare of her own, but saw no change in Ashfur’s eyes. Hollyleaf panicked, 

“Guys, what are we going to do?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, the backstory fragment of Squirrelflight going out at night is a reference to Blixemi's Original Warrior Cats Song 'Mother Said'. Her songs are amazing, go check them out on Youtube if you haven't already!
> 
> Any suggestions for this story? Leave them in the comments, and while you're there, tell me what you think!  
> ~Poekiepoes


	4. The Truth Hurts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ashfur tells everyone who came to the Gathering the truth... Or so he thinks. Hollyleaf is done with the lies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! It has been so long, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

‘’I know something,’’ Ashfur said, ‘’Something almost no one knows.’’ The gray tom took a barely-noticable glance to Squirrelflight and her kits before continuing, ‘’It is a secret, a family secret so to speak, but not from my family.’’ Ashfur looked towards his leader, ‘’But yours, Firestar.’’ Firestar looked puzzled, ‘’What do you mean, Ashfur? How long have you known this secret? You should have come to me first.’’ Ashfur just smiled, ‘’I know Firestar, but this is something everyone should know, even the other Clans.’’ Squirrelflight stepped forwards, ‘’Ashfur, I told you it was a lie, why can’t you see the truth?’’ Ashfur laughed, ‘’Oh, I can see the truth, my dear Squirrelflight. I can see it clear.’’ Brambleclaw wanted to intervene, but he didn’t know what he could say. Squirrelflight sighed, there really was no way to reach Ashfur. The gray tom continued, ‘’It is about her kits, Lionblaze, Jayfeather and Hollyleaf. They are not who they claim to be, or, they are not who Squirrelflight claims them to be.’’ Firestar looked even more puzzled than he did before, ‘’What are you talking about, Ashfur?’’ 

‘’They are not hers, she told me herself!’’

All cats started to argue with each other, especially the ThunderClan warriors.  
‘’If they aren’t their parents, then what cats are?’’  
‘’Are they from another Clan? Did ThunderClan steal kits?’’  
‘’Were they rogues? Loners?’’  
‘’Or worse: kittypets?’’  
Brambleclaw walked up to Squirrelflight, ‘’He’s lying, right? This isn’t true.’’ His voice was full of doubt, Squirrelflight touched his nose with hers, ‘’Of course he is, they are ours, I swear to StarClan.’’ Brambleclaw calmed down, knowing that his mate wasn’t lying. Firestar yelled at his warriors to stop talking, ‘’Enough! Silence! Let them explain. Squirrelflight, Brambleclaw, is this true?’’ Squirrelflight walked towards him, ‘’No, father, Ashfur is lying, I was only trying to protect my kits.’’ Firestar raised his eyebrow, ‘’What do you mean, Squirrelflight?’’

‘’I mean... I had to lie, I swear they are my kits! If I didn’t lie they might have been hurt, or worse.’’  
‘’How so?’’  
‘’I…’’ Squirrelflight hesitated, she looked at Ashfur, his expression was unreadable, and she looked at her kits, they were just as clueless of what to do as she was. If she told her father the truth, that would mean Ashfur’s life would be destroyed, he might even be banished, no Clan would want a warrior that tried to kill his Clanmates, he would be alone forever. Squirrelflight didn’t want that for him, even after everything he had done. ‘’I rather not tell you that.’’  
‘’Why not?’’’  
‘’Please, father, I swear I’m telling the truth.’’  
‘’Something happened, what is it?’’  
‘’I can’t tell you.’’  
‘’First you don’t want to and now you cannot tell me?’’  
‘’Firestar, can we please discuss this in private back at the Camp?’’  
‘’No, Squirrelflight, I intend to solve this problem now.’’  
Squirrelflight didn’t know what to do, it seemed like telling the truth about Ashfur was the only option, but she didn’t want to be the person to destroy him.

Ashfur looked at the ginger she-cat he both loved and hated, even after he lured her father into a foxtrap, which made him lose a life, and tried to burn her kits alive she still seemed to care for him. Ashfur used to understand her before she rejected him but that has been a long time, she broke his heart before without hesitation nor regret, he doubted she even noticed him after that, but now she’s afraid of doing it again. He wanted to hurt her, and he would have hurt her if he had gone through with his vengeful plan, why did he stop? To hurt her by telling everyone the truth? Now Ashfur wasn’t even sure what was the truh, perhaps she was lying after all, he really couldn’t tell anymore.

Suddenly Hollyleaf stepped forward, she had a determined look on her face, ‘’I can tell you what happened, it was during the forest fire the other day.’’ Squirrelflight looked at her daughter in shock, what was she going to do? ‘’Hollyleaf-‘’ She didn’t have the time to ask anything before Hollyleaf continued.  
‘’My mother isn’t willing to tell the truth, but I am.’’ Firestar looked at her, ‘’Well then, Hollyleaf.’’

‘’As I was saying, it was the fire from a few days ago, during the storm, Squirrelflight was trying to help me and my brothers get away from it, but Ashfur blocked our only way out.’’

Cats were shocked, they looked at Ashfur in disgust, said tom didn’t say anything, he kept his head down in an attempt to dodge questions and criticism.

‘’He started to talk to Squirrelflight about how she rejected him years ago, how it hurt him and that he wanted to hurt her in return. He was going to let us all burn alive, but Squirrelflight stayed calm and told him we weren’t hers, Ashfur fell for it and he let us go, the lie was a trick to save us.’’

Firestar stared at her, speechless, after a few moments of silence, he cleared his throat and spoke, ‘’Ashfur, is this true?’’  
The gray tom was silent for a second before answering, ‘’Yes.’’  
Before Firestar could question him further, Ferncloud walked towards her brother, ‘’How could you do this?! I knew you were upset about Squirrelflight but I didn’t know you would be capable of doing such a thing!’’  
Ashfur just stood and looked at her.  
‘’Mom and dad would be so ashamed of you! Just as i am! I don’t even want to hear any excuses! You are a monster!’’  
Ashfur froze and stared at his sister, knowing that everything she said was true.

He ran away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think! What is Ashfur going to do now? You'll see in the next chapter!


	5. Save Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ferncloud regrets her actions and tries to find her brother, Squirrelflight and her family go with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of Ferncloud this chapter! This story was supposed to be the Three, Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw bonding and being a family, but instead Ferncloud dominated the fic. I love Ferncloud, she's one of my favorite background characters.  
> I also intended to make this a 6 chapter long fic, but it's going to be longer than that probably.  
> I love this story too much, I love this idea, and a couple of nice comments encouraged me to put more effort in this fic! Thank you all!
> 
> Enjoy reading and tell me what you think!

‘’What did you do?’’ The ginger she-cat asked, slightly scared of her daughter.  
‘’What I did? I did what I had to do, after you made it necessary!’’ The black she-cat replied angrily.  
‘’You ruined his life.’’  
‘’Yes, and I regret nothing, he was willing to do the same to us, mother!’’  
‘’You’re right… I don’t know what to think right now.’’ Squirrelflight hugged her daughter, regretting yelling at her. Her two sons and mate joined them in relief.

‘’Are you okay?’’ Asked Dustpelt to his mate, who was still upset after finding out what her brother was planning on doing, ‘’Stupid question…’’ He interrupted himself right after, ‘’I’m sorry for what happened, Ferncloud.’’ His mate looked up to him and hugged him, ‘’It’s not your fault, Dustpelt. It’s Ashfur, I… I can’t believe he could even think of doing something like this, it’s like I don’t even know him…’’ Dustpelt didn’t know what to say to make her feel better, so instead he put his paw on his mate’s in an attempt to comfort her as she continued, ‘’He always said how upset he was about Squirrelflight rejecting him and I couldn’t see it, I couldn’t see the signs, I should have seen the signs, oh StarClan forgive me…’’  
‘’Ferncloud, stop blaming yourself, it’s not your fault, no one saw this coming, there’s no way you could have. Just know that I love you.’’ Dustpelt told her as Ferncloud cried in her mate’s shoulder.

Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight were in a similar situation as the other couple, Brambleclaw asked his mate how she was, Squirrelflight began blaming herself for the entire thing and Brambleclaw tried to convince her otherwise. Their three kits looked at them, not knowing what to do.  
‘’It is my fault, Brambleclaw, I was the one that rejected him in the first place!’’  
‘’No, Squirrelflight, please stop.’’  
Hollyleaf walked up to her mother, ‘’Mom, you did what anyone would have done in your situation, you didn’t want to be with him and he should have understood and respected your decision.’’  
‘’Thank you, Hollyleaf, that means a lot.’’ Answered Squirrelflight.  
‘’And about what I did earlier, I did what I thought was the best, I understand why you weren’t willing to do that, but I am not you and if anyone deserves to take the fall for this incident it’s the cat that caused all of this.’’  
‘’I know, Hollyleaf, and I admire you for it, but I didn’t want to hurt him again, after all, that’s the reason he’s done all of this.’’  
‘’If that’s another weird way to blame yourself for this-‘’  
‘’It’s not, but thank you for worrying.’’  
Lionblaze joined them, ‘’Shouldn’t we be looking for Ashfur? I mean, who knows what he’s going to do now.’’  
Squirrelflight sighed and nodded, ‘’Yes, let’s find him.’’  
They were able to leave without any problems since the whole Gathering was in chaos and the four leaders were trying to calm all of their Clans down, without much success. Squirrelflight did let her father know they were leaving, but she wasn’t sure he got the message, before they left, Leafpool, Ferncloud and Dustpelt found them and decided to go with them to go find Ashfur.

‘’I do have one question…’’ Leafpool began, they were on their way back to ThunderClan’s camp, since that was their first guess on where Ashfur might have gone, ‘’What are we going to do when we find him?’’ She asked, everyone fell silent, Ferncloud’s ears dropped and Squirrelflight looked away. ‘’I think we should bring him to Firestar.’’ Brambleclaw suggested.  
‘’Firestar is a little busy right now,’’ said Dustpelt. ‘’And he’s probably going to banish Ashfur, which would make our current search useless.’’ Added Jayfeather. ‘’We should talk to him, try to understand him,’’ said Ferncloud. All cats present looked at her as if she turned into a hedgehog, ‘’Try to understand him? He tried to burn us alive! There’s no way I would be able to understand that!’’ Exclaimed Jayfeather, his two siblings nodded in agreement.  
‘’I am truly sorry for what happened, for what he did to you, but he is my brother, I owe it to my parents to try and save him! You all have siblings, you should understand, what would you have done if it was one of you two,’’ Ferncloud gestured to Squirrelflight and Leafpool, ‘’Or Tawnypelt, or one of you three,’’ she pointed to Jayfeather, Lionblaze and Hollyleaf.

‘’I do understand,’’ Brambleclaw started, ‘’but I was never able to reach my siblings, my sister left ThunderClan even after I tried to convince her not to, and everyone knows what happened to Hawkfrost.’’ 

‘’I was never a good brother to Ravenpaw, if I had to guess, I would say he hated me, he left as well. I know it was because of Tigerstar, but it was hard not to take it personal.’’ Dustpelt said.

‘’I was good friends with Mothwing, I know how much it hurt her to see her brother change into this… this monster, and I could never imagine something like that happen to Squirrelflight, I’m sorry, Ferncloud.’’ Leafpool said.

Ferncloud nodded her head in respect, ‘’Thank you, Leafpool.’’ She turned towards all the other cats again, ‘’Now you all know why I have to do this.’’  
Everyone nodded in agreement.

A lot of painful hours later, after a lot of complaining and the occasional resting, they had searched through ThunderClan’s entire territory, they even went slightly beyond the borders carefully, but there was no sign of Ashfur, the gray tom hadn’t even returned to the camp, no cat had seen him.  
‘’What are we going to do now?’’ Asked Dustpelt, Ferncloud looked determined, ‘’I don’t know about you, but I will keep looking, he cannot have gotten far!’’  
‘’I will come with you.’’ Dustpelt said.  
‘’Me too.’’ Squirrelflight added, Brambleclaw wasn’t planning on giving up either, but Leafpool and the three siblings looked tired and completely done with the search. ‘’You can go back to the camp if you want.’’ Squirrelflight suggested, Leafpool nodded as she turned around, Jayfeather and Lionblaze followed her, but Hollyleaf stayed where she was.  
‘’Are you sure, Hollyleaf?’’ Asked Squirrelflight, Hollyleaf nodded, ‘’I made Ashfur run away, I should come.’’

The five remaining cats kept searching, they had asked Leafpool to tell Firestar what they were doing. At one point, Ferncloud suggested they went beyond the Clans’ Territories, there were doubts, but it was the only way they could find Ashfur, after all, he was nowhere to be found around the Lake.  
Ferncloud would find her brother, no matter what, and she would save him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Team Ferncloud! She's too precious, Ashfur doesn't deserve her as a sister.  
> Also, one of Hollyleaf's opening lines is from a Netflix show that I watch, can anyone guess which show?
> 
> Next chapter is from Ashfur's point of view probably. Will Ferncloud get through to him?
> 
> What will happen now? Tell me what you think!


	6. Run Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The patrol continues to search for Ashfur, as the gray tom is considering what to do next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter! I hope you guys like it!  
> This chapter switches PoV, so don't get confused!
> 
> Also, who reported my Warriors Confessions thingy as non-fanwork? And the fic I use for accepting requests?
> 
> Nevermind all that, I hope you are all healthy and safe at home!  
> Enjoy!

‘’Look over there!’’ Exclaimed Ferncloud, she pointed to a broken tree root that protruded from the earth with her tail, it had been their first clue in hours. The five cats gathered around the root, the angle of it was definitely not natural. ‘’What do you think happened to it?’’ Asked Dustpelt to his mate. ‘’I don’t know, but someone messed with it, it could have been Ashfur.’’ Replied Ferncloud. ‘’Ferncloud, we don’t even know for sure we’re going in the right direction, I doubt it’s Ashfur, if he went this way we would have found traces of him, remains of prey he caught or somewhere he rested, no cat can go this long without eating or resting.’’ Brambleclaw said, Squirrelflight looked at him, ‘’Are you saying we’ve been going nowhere this entire time? It will take us hours to return to ThunderClan Territory!’’ She exclaimed. ‘’We cannot give up.’’ Ferncloud said. 

‘’Guys, I think this really was Ashfur,’’ said Hollyleaf while sniffing the broken root, ‘’It smells like a ThunderClan cat.’’ The other cats sniffed the root as well, Brambleclaw was sceptical, ‘’The scent is very weak, it might have been a rogue that passed through our territory.’’ Hollyleaf stood up, ‘’It is the first clue we’ve had in hours, be a little more optimistic!’’  
‘’Optimism isn’t going to help us find Ashfur.’’

Ashfur ran away.

He ran somewhere, he didn’t know where.

He didn’t stop running, he didn’t even stop at ThunderClan’s camp.

He went north, beyond the Clan’s Territories, he had never been there before but he couldn’t risk to be caught by his former Clanmates.

He had been running for hours in the same direction, forest became hills, there were barely any trees.

Yet he tripped, over a root of one of the few trees. He fell down the hill, painfully, fortunately there weren’t a lot of bushes or rocks that could have made it more painful.

He got to the bottom of the hill, he was exhausted, he layed there for a moment to catch his breath, his joints were sore and his pads were bleeding now, but he felt no pain, just the burning pain in his heart, the one that had been there since the day Squirrelflight hurt him. Every wound healed, except that one.

Ashfur stood up and continued, he walked now, his legs weren’t capable of running any longer. 

He realized the pain he felt wasn’t just about her rejecting him, but it was also jealousy.  
Jealousy because life was unfair.  
She had everything, a supportive sister, kind parents who were still alive, a loving mate and even her own children.  
She had everything he didn’t have, it was unfair.  
He would make it fair, he would take everything away from her just like he planned to do before, but now he was more determined.  
He should have let them burn.

He realized he was running again, only moments later he fell to the ground again, this time not because he tripped, but because he was too tired to continue, he felt like his paws would fall off and his vision began to blur, soon he saw nothing but darkness.

Ashfur woke up when the sun shone in his face, he opened his eyes to see it was past sunhigh. When he stood up he was dizzy even though he rested well, he almost passed out again. All of his muscles were sore but he could bite through it, he needed to eat something though.  
The area he was in seemed preyless, but he managed to catch himself a mouse that was still drowsy. After he ate it and buried its remains to cover his tracks he continued on his journey to nowhere.

After several hours he began to wonder why he was running, why would he run from his only chance at revenge? No one is stupid enough to follow him all this way, so why run? He could return to take away everything Squirrelflight held dear and extinguish the fire in his heart, but he needed a plan.  
He would think of something and Squirrelflight and her pathetic family wouldn’t stand a chance against him.

‘’There’s blood here,’’ Hollyleaf noticed, she proceeded to sniff the blood to determine who it was from. ‘’I think this might be Ashfur’s blood, Ferncloud.’’ She said to the gray she-cat that was already at her side to check out their newest clue, she smelled the blood as well, ‘’Yes, this is definitely him, I’d recognize his scent anywhere.’’ She turned to the rest of the group, ‘’We’re close, this is pretty fresh, perhaps a few hours old.’’  
‘’So he’s hours away.’’ Brambleclaw said, ‘’If he’s moving that fast we’ll never catch him, it will take moons!’’  
‘’Well I am not giving up!’’ Replied Ferncloud angrily, ‘’I am getting my brother back!’’  
‘’This is pointless, if he wanted to talk to you he would have come to us already!’’  
Dustpelt intervened, ‘’You don’t have the right to talk to Ferncloud like that!’’  
‘’I’m just letting her know how this is a waste of time!’’ Brambleclaw turned towards Ferncloud again, ‘’I understand you want your brother back, but you have to be realistic, do you really think Ashfur is going to come back after what happened? And do you think the Clan will just forget what he had done?’’  
‘’Fine. Go back to ThunderClan then. If you are not going to help you should not be here.’’  
‘’I am just asking you to give him time and space, if he wants to go back to you he will, now let’s go.’’ Brambleclaw turned around to walk away, he looked at the others. Squirrelflight shook her head, ‘’I’m going to help Ferncloud. You don’t have to stay for me, Brambleclaw, the Clan needs you.’’ Brambleclaw nodded, ‘’The Clan needs all of you too.’’ He said to Squirrelflight, Ferncloud, Dustpelt and Hollyleaf. ‘’ThunderClan cannot afford to have so many warriors absent.’’  
‘’I’ll go back.’’ Said Dustpelt, he turned around to look at his mate, ‘’I want to support you, but I have to follow the Warrior Code, the Clan must come first.’’ Ferncloud nodded, ‘’I understand. I’ll come back as soon as I can.’’ Their noses touched. The two brown tabbies left. ‘’What about you, Hollyleaf?’’ Squirrelflight asked. Hollyleaf shook her head, ‘’I’ll stay.’’

The three she-cats continued their journey, they followed Ashfur’s trail while running. Several hours later they began to get close to a Twolegplace.  
‘’A Thunderpath. We’re going to lose Ashfur’s scent in this environment.’’ Hollyleaf noticed, Twoleg things always smelled so strong that they could mask any other scent. ‘’We have to cross it.’’ Said Ferncloud and she proceeded to walk towards the Thunderpath. The other two cats followed her. ‘’I’ll go first.’’ Ferncloud looked out for monsters and then ran over the Path, when she reached the other side she signaled for the other she-cats to come. Squirrelflight went next, she crossed it safely as well. Then went Hollyleaf, she stopped in the middle of the Path because a monster was passing, she froze.  
‘’Hollyleaf! You have to move!’’ Yelled her mother to the black she-cat.  
‘’I can’t!’’ She replied.  
‘’Yes you can! You have to go now!’’  
Hollyleaf ran.  
She almost made it unscathed, almost.  
When she reached the safe side, she was limping, one monster had nudged one of her hind legs, it was bleeding.  
‘’It’s not that bad,’’ Said Squirrelflight, but it was more to reassure herself.  
‘’I’m fine, mom.’’ Hollyleaf replied. She tried to walk normally but fell.  
‘’Easy, sweetheart.’’ Said her mother.  
‘’I told you, I can walk, I’m fine!’’ She kept insisting.

‘’I’m fine mom.’’ Said Hollyleaf, Ashfur watched her try to walk and fall, she was obviously injured.  
‘’Easy, sweetheart,’’ Her mother said to her. There she is, Ashfur though to himself.  
‘’I told you, I can walk, I’m fine!’’ Hollyleaf was being very stubborn, if she kept going like that she would get herself killed. Not that that is a bad thing.  
Ashfur had noticed them near the Thunderpath and observed them, he had guessed Hollyleaf was hit by one of the monsters. He was pretty far away, so they wouldn’t see, hear or smell him.  
Ferncloud hadn’t practiced her fighting moves in a long time and Hollyleaf was hurt, if he ambushed them he could win, if only he hadn’t been travelling for so long. He would kill them both, so it would just be him and Squirrelflight. Squirrelflight had to live, she had to see the damage he would cause to her family and her Clan.  
But it was his Clan too.  
No, it hasn’t been his Clan since the Gathering.  
But Ferncloud was his sister. She was his family  
No, she called him a monster, she didn’t want him as her brother. And neither did he.

‘’You are a fool, Ashfur.’’ He heard a female voice say behind him, he turned around at once. He saw a gray she-cat with beautiful green eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooohhhh a cliffhanger! What do you think is going on? What do you think will happen?  
> Leave a comment and tell me what you think!  
> I noticed how many views this thing has! Over 700! Thank you all so much!  
> Also 28 kudos, this is now my most popular fic, beating ''My Wind''!


	7. Ghosts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The mysterious gray cat that followed Ashfur reveals herself. Meanwhile Ferncloud, Squirrelflight and a wounded Hollyleaf try to figure out their next steps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry! I don't think this story has that many fans, but to all of you out there, sorry! I lost inspiration for a while! Just know I'm back and not dead.
> 
> I should probably warn you that this chapter is pretty scary...
> 
> Warriors and its characters is owned by Erin Hunter.  
> Enjoy!

After convincing Hollyleaf that she needed herbs and rest, the group of she-cats decided it would be best to find a safe spot to sleep for a couple of hours. Hollyleaf tried to refuse her mother’s shoulder to lean on, but finally gave in, realizing there wasn’t much of a discussion. After finding a safe spot to rest, an abandoned Twoleg Home, Ferncloud and Hollyleaf laid down while Squirrelflight went out to find some herbs for her daughter’s leg. Just because she was a warrior, didn’t mean she didn’t know anything about treating wounds, her sister was a medicine cat after all.

‘’We need to get you to a real medicine cat, Hollyleaf.’’ Squirrelflight told her daughter after treating her injured leg.

‘’I’ll be fine, don’t worry mom.’’ Hollyleaf replied calmly. Squirrelflight knew her daughter would be fine, she was stubborn, _very_ stubborn, but also very tough. Just like her parents.

‘’I suggest we rest until sundown, it’ll be safer to search Twolegplace at night, there won’t be as many twolegs and monsters can be seen from afar.’’ Ferncloud said. The other two she-cats agreed as Squirrelflight laid down next to Hollyleaf to snuggle.

‘’Hello.’’

Ferncloud heard a familiar female voice behind her.

‘’Mom?’’ She realized immediately. Brindleface smiled at her daughter, ‘’It’s so good to see you, my sweet girl.’’ She said lovingly. Ferncloud walked towards her mother and hugged her.

‘’Is this StarClan?’’ Ferncloud asked, not really needing an answer as it was pretty clear. Her mother nodded, ‘’You’re dreaming, sweetheart.’’ Brindleface’s happy expression turned into a more serious one.

‘’I think you know why I have come to visit.’’

‘’Yes..’’ Ferncloud said sadly, ‘’Ashfur.’’

Brindleface sighed, ‘’My son.’’

‘’My brother. Why aren’t you visiting him? He needs to see you more than I do! I know exactly what I have to do. No matter how glad I am to see you, I don’t need you right now.’’ Ferncloud’s words were harsh, yet she sounded kind.

‘’I tried, Ferncloud, but I can’t reach him. It’s like he’s already gone.’’ Brindleface replied sadly. ‘’I don’t want to give up on my son, but every cat in StarClan told me that I can’t do anything about it. I talked to Yellowfang, figuring she would understand-‘’

‘’You’re seriously comparing Ashfur to Brokenstar?!’’ Ferncloud cut off her mother angrily.

‘’No, just listen to me, sweetheart. Ashfur is my son, I would never see him like that. You’re a mother too, could you try to understand what I’m going through?’’ Brindleface tried to explain calmly.

‘’My kits are different, they are all kind, brave warriors! Or warriors to be.’’

‘’Ashfur was too! And I’m in StarClan now, I can’t do anything about it, trust me, I truly want to!’’ Brindleface said.

‘’I’m sorry, mom, it’s not your fault. You’re right, I don’t know exactly what you’re going throught, but I have an idea. Ashfur is my family too, I care about him too!’’

Brindleface sighed, ‘’I know, my sweet girl. That’s why you are the one who has to save him. Yellowfang had to kill her own son, please don’t let it come to that, Ferncloud.’’

‘’I promise, mom.’’

‘’You are a fool, Ashfur.’’

Ashfur looked at the beautiful gray-furred she-cat he hadn’t seen since he was just an apprentice. She looked exactly like he remembered, except for her eyes. The once lovely, warm eyes were now cold. _Dead._ She died. No, she didn’t die, she was murdered. His mother had been murdered years ago. This she-cat was his dead mother.

‘’Mom?’’ He asked her softly with a trembling voice, as he could not believe what he saw. _Has she come back from the dead for me?_ No. Of course not. She’s dead, no one can change that. _Did she come down from StarClan… for me?_ Another stupid thought, if StarClan cats had the ability to just do that randomly, she would have visited her kits much sooner… _Right?_

Brindleface did not answer his question in a loving way, as she used to do when she was still alive, instead, she continued her sharp, bitter voice, ‘’Can’t you see what you’ve done?’’

‘’What do you mean?’’ _Why are you here?_

‘’They were distracted, Ashfur, you could have overpowered them!’’ His mother said coldly.

‘’No, I couldn’t have,’’ _How are you here?_ ‘’They are with three, I’m still weak from the journey, and…’’ Suddenly Ashfur stopped talking as he realized.

His mother, his loving, kind mother, would never tell her son to do things like these. But if she wasn’t his mother, who was this cat?

‘’Is something wrong, son?’’ ‘Brindleface’ asked.

‘’You’re not my mother.’’ Ashfur said distrustingly.

‘’What are you talking about, son? You haven’t forgotten about me, have you?’’ ‘Brindleface’ asked with a soft voice, an attempt to raise empathy.

‘’No! You’re not her! Stay away from me! Who are you?!’’

‘’Son, please!’’ ‘Brindleface’ pleaded.

‘’WHO ARE YOU?! WHY ARE YOU PRETENDING TO BE MY MOTHER?!’’ Ashfur was yelling now, he tried to sound intimidating, but his words came out trembling instead, he was scared.

‘’Son, you have to listen to me. You have to do what’s necessary. I’ll stay here by your side, forever. Isn’t that what you always wanted? For us to be a family again?’’

The hunter became the hunted as Ashfur ran away. Again. He ran faster this time. Who was this she-cat? That wasn’t his mother, his mother was kind and sweet. And dead.

‘’I love you, son, please don’t leave me behind.’’ Ashfur heard behind him.

‘’Please don’t leave me _again_ …’’

‘’No… No… NO!’’ Ashfur yelled while running. ‘’LEAVE ME ALONE!’’

‘’I love you, son.’’

‘’SHUT UP!’’

‘’Son, please.

_I love you’’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooohhh... I wonder what happens next!
> 
> Tell me what you think, reviews really help inspiring me to continue this! Was this chapter a little short? I have a feeling it is...  
> What did you think of Brindleface and 'Brindleface'?

**Author's Note:**

> Phew.. that's done. It's almost midnight and I have school tomorrow, so maybe I should sleep now.. soon...  
> I don't like Hollyleaf, but I think her thoughts were the most important in this story, so it's from her point of view. Btw, my favorite of the three and also my favorite Warriors character is Jaybae.
> 
> Well anyways, I hope you enjoyed and please tell me what you think so far!
> 
> ~Poekiepoes


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